Band-cutter and feeder for corn-shredding machines.



PATENTBD JUNE 2, 1903.

J.' CROSBY.

D-PBBDER PCR CORN SHRBDDINC MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. 1901.

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BANDCUTTBR AN No MODEL:

PATENTBD JUNE 2, F1903.

. J. CROSBY. v `BAND GUTTER AND FEEDER EUR CORN SHREDDING MACHINES.

` APPLICATION EIIBIJ JULY 1 5, 1901.

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tion.

shredding mechanism.

UETED STATS Patented June 2, 1903.

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JESSE onosnv, ou il'trinnnrm Mnnnzso'rA.j

SPECIFICATION forming para of Letters Application tiled July 15| 1901.

To al?. whom t 11i/Ly concern:

Be it known that I, JESSE CROSBY, acitizen of the United States,residing at Madelia, in the county of Watonwan and State of Minnesota,have invented a new and useful Band- Cutter and Feeder forCorn-Shredding Machines, of which the following is a specifica- Myinvention is an improved band-cutterl and feeder for corn-shreddingmachines especially adapted for feeding bundles of corn, cutting thecords or bands which bind the bundles, and spreading the corn after thesame has been unbound to feed the same evenly to the feed-rolls oftheshredding-maf'v chine 5.and my invention consists in the pe-` culiarconstruction and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth andclaimed."

One object of my invention is to provide a presser-board which coperates`with the feed-U carrier in spreading the unbound corn to feed the sameevenlyto the feed-rolls.

A further object of my invention is to pro vide improved spreaders onthe lower side of. the` presser-board.

' A further object of my invention is to effect improvements in the`construction of a governor and in combination therewith of thefeed-carrier and its coacting presser-roller to throw thel feedingmechanism out of gear when the speed 0f the shredding mechanism fallsbelow a predetermined rate and to bring the feeding mechanism into gearwhen the speed of the shreddingmechanism reaches the required rate, andthus avoid choking the In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is avertical longitudinal sectional view of a band-cutter and feederconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an inverted planview of the same and partly af horizontal sectional view taken on aplane in-" dicated by the line a ct of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detailtransverse sectional view showing the governor mechanism.

A shaftl is transversely disposed in the front end ofthe casing 2 oftheband-cutting and feeding mechanism and is journaled in bearings in thesides of said casing. At one end of the said shaft is a pulley 3,whichin'practice is connected to a pulley on the cylinder of theshredding-machine (not here shown) Patent Nolveavse, dated :rune 2,1903. stanno. 68,361. (N6 man.)

by an ordinary endless power-belt, whereby power is communicated to theshaft 1 from the cylinder of the shredding-machine. On thesaid shaft 1are aA series of disks 4, which areappropriately spaced apart and arehere shown as of triangular form. The said disks are, provided withbandcutting knives 5. A

- friction-clutch member 6 is loose on the shaft wheel 8 are also looseon the said shaft 1 and rotate with each other and with thefrictionclutch member 6. A clutch member 9 is lsplined on the shaft 1,rotates therewith, and

is' adapted to move longitudinally on said shaft. Said clutch member 9is provided witha series of removable friction-blocks 10 on` itsperiphery, which friction-blocks are preferably made of wood,and eachofthe same may-be adjusted bya set-screw 11 to compensate for wear. Acollar 12 is fast on the shaft 1, and to the same are pivotallyconnected the inner ends of centrifugal arms 13. Said arms are providedat their ,outer ends with balls or weights 14 and arenormally drawntoward the shaft 1 by springs 15. An annnlus 16 engages a collar`17,with which the clutch member 9 is provided, and said annulus isconnected to the said centrifugal arms byllinks 1S. Normally by theaction of the springs 15 and the centrifugal arms and link-bars theclutch member 9 is out of engagement with the clutch member 6, and hencethe sprocket-wheels 7 and spur gearwheel 8 are'normally loose-on theshaft 1; but `when the said shaft 1 is speeded the centrifugalarms 13move'outwardly andengage the clutch member. 9frictional1y with theclutch [member 6, thereby locking the sprocket-wheel l7 and gear-wheel 8to said shaft lfor the purpose hereinafter described.

.. A frame-section 19 is hinged, as at 20, to the front end of thecasing 2 at the lower side thereof and is adapted to be extendedhorizontally outwardly. from said casing-2 `or to be folded under thesame. Rods21- support the said frame section 19 in the position shown inFig. 1, the said rods being attached to the sides of the frame-section19 and ad apted to be hooked to the sides of the casing 2, At the outerend of the said hinged' as at 22. frame-section 19 is a roller 23,whichV has its roo bearings in the sides of the said frame-section. Aroller 24 is disposed transversely at the rear end of the casing 2 atthe lower side thereof and is journaled in suitable bearings with whichthe said casing is provided. An endless traveling feed-carrier 26connects the rollers 23 25 and comprises a pair of endless belts 27,which form the outer sides of said feed-carrier, endless chains 2S,which are disposed between the said endless belts, and cross slats orhars 29, which are disposed transversely on said endless belts andendless chains and connect the same together. The said endless belts 27operate on pulleys 30 on the rollershaft 25, and said endless chains 28operate on sprocket-wheels 31 on said rollershafr. At one end of saidroller-shaft is a sprocket-wheel 32, which is connected by an endlesssprocket-chain 33 to a sprocket-wheel. 34, that isjournaled on astub-shaft 35, which projects from one side of the casing 2. Aspur-wheel 36 rotates with said sprocketwheel 34 and is engaged by thespur-gear 8. Hence power is communicated from the bandcutter shaft 1 tothe feed-carrier and the latter is caused to operate, as indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 1.

A presser-roller 37 is journaled in vertically-movable bearings 38,which operate in vertical guideways 39 on the sides of the casing 2, atthe rear end thereof. Hence said presser-roller is adapted to movevertically. The same is depressed by springs 40, the ten sion of whichmay be varied at will by screws 41, as shown in Fig. 1. The functionofthe said presser-roller is to bear downwardly on the corn on thefeed-carrier and coperate with the latter in delivering the corn to thefeed rollers A of the shredding mechanism, by which feed-rollers thecorn is delivered and fed to the shredding mechanism. (Not shown.) Thesaid presser-roller has a 'sprocket-wheel 42 at one end of'its shaft.

An endless sprocket-chain 43 connects said sprocket-wheels 42 to thesprocket-wheels 7 on the band-cutter shaft 1. Hence power iscommunicated from the said band cutter shaft to the said presser-roller,as will be understood.

Over that portion of the feed-carrier which is in rear of theband-cutter shaft is disposed a presser-board 44, the front end of thesame being supported, as at 45, against vertical movement, and the rearportion thereof being depressed by springs 46, which permit saidpresser-board to yield to pressure from the lower side, but normallymaintain the presserboard in the position shown in Fig. 1.Adjusting-screws 47 are provided to vary the tension of the springs 46at will. The bundles of corn thrown on the front portion of thefeed-carrier are conveyed thereby under the band-cutting knives, and asthe bands are cut by the knives the bundles of corn spread laterally onthe feed-carrier, this being facilitated by the presser-board 44. In

order to cause the corn 'lo be spread evenly on the feed-carrier, andhence to be fed evenly to the feed-rolls A, I provide spreader-ribs 48on the under side of the presser-board, which spreader-ribs arearranged, as shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, in pairs, each pairof spreader-ribs diverging toward the rear end of the presser-board. Thesaid presserboard is relatively fixed-that is to say, it cannot moveendwise and does not partake of the movement of the feed-carrier. Thefront end of the presser-board is provided with a series of slots 44a,the front ends of which are open, and the rear sides of the band-cuttingdisks, which carry the bandcutting knives, are disposed in said slots,as clearly shown in the drawings, and hence the bundles are held underthe presser-board while their bands are cut by said knives, thepresser-board greatly facilitating the operation of the band-cuttingknives, as will be understood. l

The operation of my invention will be readily understood from theforegoing description and by reference to the drawings.

The band-cutting and feeding mechanisms are driven by power communicatedthereto from the cylinder-shaft of the shredding-'machine. In the eventthat the feeding mechanism conveys corn too rapidly to the shreddingmechanism and the latter tends to choke the reduced speed of theshredding mechanism will effect a corresponding reduction in the speedof the shaft 1 and the centrifugal governor mechanism hereinbeforedescribed will disengage the clutch member 9 from the clutch member 6,thereby permitting the sprocket-wheels 7 and gear-wheel 8 to remain idleon the shaft 1, and hence discontinue the operation of the feedingmechanism. As the shredding mechanism becomes cleared and the speed ofits cylinder increasesthe consequent increased speed of the band-cuttingshaft 1 will cause the governor mechanism to automatically put thefeeding mechanism in gear. Hence my improved bandcutter and feeder isautomatic in its operation and is adapted to feed the corn to theshredding mechanism with a rapidity equal to the capacity of the latterand without dan= ger of choking the same.

Having thus described my invention, I clai1n l. In a band-cutter andfeeder for cornshredding machines, the combination of a shaft havingband-cutting elements, means whereby it may be driven by powercommunicated thereto from the shredding mechanism, a friction-gear looseon said shaft, a sprocket-wheel 7 and gear 8, loose on said shaft andconnected together and to the friction-gear,- an endless travelingfeed-carrier extending under the band-cutting elements and having adriving sprocket-wheel 42, an endless chain connecting thesprocket-wheels 7 and 42 together, a friction-gear splined on IOO theband-cutter shaft and movable into and out of engagement with the loosefriction-gear thereon, a centrifugal mechanism to automatically operatesaid splined friction-gear, a presser-roller disposed over the dischargeportion of the feed-carrier, a gear 36 engaging gear 8, powerconnections between said gear 36 and said presser-roller, whereby thelatter is driven, and means to spread the stalks on the feed-carrier,after the bands of the bundles have been cut and before the stalks reachthe presser-roller, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of afeed-carrier forming an ap` proximately plane upper surface, aband-cutter over the same, and a relatively fixed spring-depressedpresser-board, inrear of the bandcutter,`over and proximate to the uppersurface of the feed-'carrier and inclinedrearwardly thereto, saidpresser` having depending spreader-ribs on its lower sidedisposed inpairs one pair behind another, the spreaderinclined rearwardly thereto,said presser having depending spreader-ribs on-its lower side disposedin forward and rearward groups withfthe ribs of the rearward groupsspaced at a less interval than those of the forward groups,substantially as and-for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the `foregoing as my own Ihave hereto aflixedmy signaturein 4o the presence of two witnesses.

JESSE CROSBY.

Witnesses:

Env/ARD` C. FARMER, ELIZABETH MPRICE.

